dry eyes

[Sandmanliz]

does anyone else have problems with dry eyes from their Parkinson’s? I do not wear contacts and I’ve never had the problems before. But definitely it is worse when my meds wear off. Also, if you do, what are your solutions?

[ElliotGreen]

Parkinson’s disease can cause problems with the autonomic nervous system, and this can sometimes lead to dry eyes. Also, it is thought that people with PD may blink less often, also leading to dry eyes.

Here are a citation and excerpt from a 2017 paper. The last paragraph includes some possible treatments, including eyedrops, omega-3 oil supplements (you eat them, don’t put them in your eyes, lol), or plugging the tear ducts (which I believe blocks the outflow of tears).

Ekker, Merel S., et al. 2017. "Ocular and visual disorders in Parkinson's disease: common but frequently overlooked." Parkinsonism & related disorders 40: 1-10.

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

1. Dry eye disease

Dry eyes disease (‘keratoconjunctivitis sicca’) is common in PD, with an estimated prevalence of 53- 60%[5, 16], which is higher than the estimated prevalence of 5-35% in the general population aged 50 years and above[17]. Dry eyes in PD are thought to result from a decreased blink rate, which is a classical feature of PD. A decreased blink rate leads to a diminished distribution of the lipid components of the tear film over the cornea[18, 19], causing the aqueous component to evaporate faster. In addition, dry eyes in PD may result from decreased tear production caused by autonomic dysfunction, based on the partial parasympathetic autonomic innervation of the lacrimal gland[18].

During history taking, one should not only ask for dry eyes, but also for associated typical symptoms such as burning sensations of the eyes, intermittent lacrimation (e.g. tearing), blurred vision, a gritty or sandy sensation, red eyes, or the feeling of pressure or even pain behind the eye balls or around the orbit. Dry eyes can also be objectively verified by the Schirmer’s test, reflecting the amount of aqueous tear production; and the ‘tear breakup time’, measuring the stability of the tear film layer[5, 18] (see the Appendix).

Symptomatic treatment of dry eyes is challenging (table 3) and has not been studied specifically in PD patients. Patients can be advised to consciously increase their blink frequency, but this is difficult to achieve, because they are usually not aware of this. Artificial tears (eye drops) are the current mainstay of treatment, often resulting[20] in a significant reduction of discomfort and better visual acuity, although PD-related motor impairments might impede their self-administration. In addition, oral supplementation with polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6) might relieve symptoms[20, 21]. Semi-permanent occlusion of the tear ducts by silicone or collagen plugs, or permanent occlusion by thermal cautery or argon laser can provide symptomatic relief of severe dry eyes, at the price of potential side effects as epiphora (overflow of tears), foreign body sensation, eye irritation, and spontaneous plug loss[22].

Here's the full list of six common eye problems they discuss in relation to PD:

We discuss six common disorders in more detail: dry eyes; diplopia [double vision]; glaucoma and glaucoma-like visual problems; impaired contrast and colour vision; visuospatial and visuoperceptual impairments; and visual hallucinations.

[bassofspades]

I have this problem, especially as the evening wears on and I start getting tired. My solution is Eye Vitamins, which contain Leutein. Once a day. Any brand should be fine, I just get whatever is cheapest on amazon. Also, of course, eye drops work immediately. Just keep the bottle clean and fresh.

[aquario]

Yes whenever I open them in moid-night or morning, they stick together which i guess is wet eyes or sticky eyes. But it's weird.

[Zella23]

Both my HWP and myself, who has had laser eye treatment and have worn contact lenses have dry eyes. Mine are more troublesome than my husband. We both take an eye supplement.

I take Retinex from Healthspan which helps. I also use a silk eye mask from Amazon, which I heat up and use frequently. It’s called a Blepha Eyebag. I ve been using them for several years, my consultant recommended using one. I ve used eye drops containing sodium Hylaluronate and preservative free. I use them at night as gel tears I’ve tried are too much.

Another eye drop I get from vision express called Everclear eye drops have been very useful, quite cheap and work well for me.

I think it’s finding the correct product for you that makes your eyes feel comfortable. My GP has suggested some but I found more products that suited me by googling.

Hope this helps.

[Kingsdaughter1]

I was diagnosed with dry eyes earlier this past fall during a routine eye exam. I hadn’t even noticed that I had dry eyes but was experiencing blurriness at times. I was told to try using Artificial Tears 4-6 times daily for one month. I didn’t see any changes so I was put on Restasis drops twice daily. I will get reevaluated first of the year.

[JustJeff]

dry eyes have always been a problem and on reflection this was the first symptom of PD that i had ...the product i use which i have found helpful is

ebay.co.uk/itm/185660907429...

[ElliotGreen in reply to JustJeff]

for posterity: that's

Hycosan Dual Preservative Free Moisturising Dry Eye Drops - 7.5ml

[JustJeff in reply to ElliotGreen]

yes

[jaybar]

I use eye drops four times a day. It helps a lot.

[Jebbie12]

my opthamalogist told me I have dry eyes which interferes with reading She suggested ivizia eye drops

[Crescendo]

My husband who has PD for 11 years was just diagnosed with dry eye. He uses Systane Preservative free eye drops twice daily. They can be bought over the counter and help a lot.

[Hidden]

Yes, I frequently have dry eyes, and dry mouth too.

[Sandmanliz]

thank you all for great tips!!!

[SilentEchoes]

I use a combination of eye drops, I've tried many OTC drops and like Similisan the best. I also use Thealoz Duo and Liquid MSM drops. I have also used organic caster oil and an ophthalmic gel with Vitamin A. I'm going to give this another try and use NIR light therapy with the Vitamin A. It's supposed to be most effective when used first thing in the morning. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[Sandmanliz]

thank you so much. where are you getting the gel with fit A? I actually taught anesthesia on flying eye hospital for 2 years. (Project Orbis). There were countries where the men ate first and took all of the meat.(no vitamin A). The woman were left with the vegetables:(lots of vitamin A). the result was many blind men!

[chartist]

Sandmanliz,

You may find the following capsule helpful for your dry eyes :

healthunlocked.com/cure-par...

Art

[Following_closely]

I have the same problem. I didn’t get much relief from otc eye drops and was eventually prescribed Xiidra. It works better than the other drops I’ve tried, but not great. Given that and the cost (even though it’s mostly covered by insurance), I’ll be trying some of these remedies.

[parkie13 in reply to Following_closely]

I have the same problem, did not find over the counter drops all that good. What has helped me is using saline solution and an eye cup and bathing my eyes as needed. Warm Water Works a lot better than cold water. Also I have a little eye mask filled with round beads that you can put in the microwave and put it on your eyes. That seems to help too. The thing that made huge difference is buying hypochlorous acid spray and using it twice a day. You can spray your eyes directly or put it on a tissue and go over your eyelid, upper and lower. Amazon has lots of feedback on hypochlorous acid. Hope that will help.

[Following_closely in reply to parkie13]

Thank you for those suggestions. Yes, my optometrist has told my that I have blepharitis and should clean my eyelids with warm water, but every time I’ve tried that, my eyes have ended up more irritated. I’ve never tried saline or products specifically made for that purpose. Your suggestion prompted me to look online for products to try.

I’m glad that the bead mask works for you. I tried that and it seemed to work for a while and then I noticed I was waking up with vision that was blurry even after putting on my glasses. I eventually concluded that the mask was doing something to cause the problem (perhaps deforming the shape of my eyes temporarily?), which went away as soon as I quit using it. However, I see they work well for many people. Thanks again for the tips!

[parkie13 in reply to Following_closely]

Just plain, warm water irritates my eyes. It has to be saline solution.

[october61]

Watch this. youtu.be/0mf2TDTEd44(Not working as expected?)

[Sandmanliz in reply to october61]

this helped so much!!

[october61 in reply to Sandmanliz]

That is good to hear, take care.